


Greater Good

by Sabene4511



Series: So Many Revelations [10]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Brief suicidal thoughts, Established Relationship, Jack Whump, Kidnapping, M/M, Mac Whump, Poisoning, Temporary Character Death, Vampire AU, Vampire Mac (kind of)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:40:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27648313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sabene4511/pseuds/Sabene4511
Summary: Mac's worst nightmare...and Jack's. What happens when Mac is kidnapped for experimentation and Jack is poisoned trying to save him?
Relationships: Jack Dalton/Angus MacGyver (MacGyver TV 2016)
Series: So Many Revelations [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1380847
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Those that have read my other works may recognize this as chapters 4 and 5 of Blood Secrets. When I decided to expand this vampire universe of mine, I realized that Blood Secrets was really two separate stories that should have a lot of things happen in between. The first three chapters are now 'He's A...Wait, What?' and is part 2 of this series. And you really need to have read that to understand what's going on here.
> 
> This whole series was planned and outlined before Season 4 aired. So Russ, codex and Mac/Desi are not a thing and never were, James isn't dead, and there was no long gap where Phoenix was shut down and everyone scattered. For the sake of time line, this story takes place in early March 2020. And no worries, this series is coronavirus free.

**Greater Good**

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter 1**

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack’s POV - Sunday 8am

The past couple months have been pretty typical. His arm finally healed, Jack joined the team in the field and in the past two weeks they spent a week tracking down a kidnapped Senator’s daughter, only to find out she ran away with her boyfriend to escape her controlling father. They broke up a human trafficking ring, in Alaska of all places. And they took down a minor arms dealer in Spain. All in all, pretty status quo, nothing too out of the ordinary. After a few delays, construction on the ranch is _finally_ finished. They’re supposed to have everyone up soon for a housewarming party.

Jack has taken to joining Mac on his Sunday morning trips to the private gym every week. It’s given the two time to work out, relax, and talk about anything without being cautious about eavesdroppers or interruptions. They get to _really_ spar without worrying, too. Jack loses spectacularly pretty much every time, but he’s starting to get used to it...kind of. His relationship with the blonde is getting stronger every day. Things are really, really good. He should have known it couldn’t last.

There’s no hint of anything wrong as Jack pulls up to Mac’s house. The Jeep is parked in it’s usual spot. Jack sighs as he opens the front door.

“You know, Mac, you really should lock the door. Making someone break it down or pick the lock would _at least_ give you some warning.” There’s no answer. “Mac?”

Jack checks Mac’s bedroom and the bathroom where he’s sure he’ll find the younger man getting ready. Nope. He heads to the kitchen. “Yo, Mac! You here, darlin’?” He pulls out his phone and calls, and finds Mac’s cell phone ringing from on the coffee table in the living room. His hair is starting to stand on end. This isn’t right.

After checking the back deck, he decides to check the garage. Maybe Mac is working on some project and lost track of time...and didn’t hear him pull up? Not likely, but he has to look everywhere before he panics. As he steps outside, the neighbor, Angie, comes jogging up the drive.

“Jack! Hey, I saw you pull up. How’s Mac doing? Is he okay?”

Now Jack’s confused _and_ worried, “What do you mean?”

“I saw the ambulance yesterday. They brought Mac out of the house on a stretcher. I figured you would know.”

Jack’s heart-rate jumps. “No. No, I don’t know anything about this Angie. Start from the beginning. What happened?”

“I don’t really know. Mac came back from a run just before lunch as usual and a friend of his pulled up a few minutes later.”

“A friend?”

“I assume so. Mac gave him a hug when he saw him and they went inside. I didn’t recognize him though.”

“Okay, go on.”

“About 15 minutes later an ambulance pulled up, and the EMTs went in. A few minutes after that, they wheeled Mac out on a stretcher with an IV in his arm, loaded him into the ambulance and drove off.”

“What about the friend?”

“He followed in his car.”

“Can you describe him? His car?”

She seems to realize there may be something more to this and she’s getting scared, “Jack, what’s going on?”

Jack is trying very hard to keep them _both_ calm. He takes a step closer and puts his hands on her shoulders. “Angie, please. This is real important. Can you describe the friend or his car?”

She takes a deep shuddering breath, “He’s about your age, a little older maybe. He’s got real short hair, maybe blond? It’s so short it was hard to tell. White guy, average build. Not really anything remarkable about him.”

“The car?”

“Nothing special either. It was a 4-door sedan, medium gray, relatively new. I don’t know much about cars.” She says sheepishly.

“Did you happen to see any of the license plate?”

She looks down and shakes her head, “Sorry. I didn’t know I should be looking.”

“It’s okay, you did better than I could have hoped. You said Mac had an IV. Was he awake?”

“No. I just figured he overdid it on his run and passed out or something.”

“Well, maybe that’s all it is. I’m gonna make a few calls. You go home now. Okay?” She nods and he waits for her to leave then dials Matty.

“What’s wrong, Jack?”

“Mac was taken out of his house in an ambulance yesterday around lunchtime. Why weren’t we notified?”

“Let me find out.” She hangs up.

Jack heads back inside to start looking at things in more detail. He goes to the most likely place Mac would start entertaining a guest, the kitchen. Nothing seems out of place. Careful not to touch anything he bends down to look at the counter in the light. It’s been wiped clean.

His phone rings and he answers it without looking at who it is, “Dalton.”

“There is no record of an ambulance being dispatched to Mac’s address or a 911 call. How do you know that’s what happened?” Matty’s tone is clipped and worried.

“Let’s just say there are some bonuses to having a nosey neighbor with a thing for blonde haired, blue eyed geniuses,” he tells her everything Angie told him.

“Riley is already digging into traffic cameras in the area trying to find some trace of the ambulance. I’ll tell her about the car following. I’m also sending a forensics team, they should be there soon. Can you think of _anyone_ Mac would greet as a friend that might do this?”

“I’ve been trying ever since Angie mentioned it. I’m coming up blank, but I’ll keep thinkin’ on it.”

He hangs up as he squats all the way down on the floor, lowering his head to let the light play across the hardwood. In amongst the footprints, he sees a spot by the island that’s all smudged...about the size of Mac laying down. Maybe whoever grabbed Mac left something of themselves behind. He shows the area to the forensics team when they arrive and then he stays out of the way. They find several prints and put a rush on them. He can only hope it gives them a lead.

\------------------------------------------------------------------

Mac’s POV - 18 hours earlier - Saturday 2pm

Mac slowly blinks his eyes open against the light. The first thing he notices is that he’s laying on his back on the floor, and the ceiling with the lights is far above him. Really far, it’s got to be at least 30 feet. There’s also a camera on the ceiling and a speaker. Strange, there’s a door, but it’s 20 feet up, no ledge and no door handle, perfectly flush to the wall around it.

He looks around to find the only other things in the room are a toilet and a sink. The kind you find in some public restrooms where all the plumbing is on the other side of the wall. Slowly getting to his feet, he realizes his clothes have been changed. He’s now wearing very simple dark blue hospital scrubs and dark blue socks. But how in the hell did he get here? Images immediately come to mind:

_A knock at his door and opening it to find Dr. Foster standing there: the doctor assigned to him while he was in the Army because he’d already known about the vampire virus. He told Mac he’d just rotated home again and decided to look him up and see how he’s doing. Mac had invited him in and they’d talked for a few minutes. Mac turned to get Foster a drink from the fridge._

Mac raises a hand to his neck as he remembers the needle he’d felt seconds after his back was turned. Looking around some more he sees there are no electrical outlets and no light switches. The walls and floor are smooth concrete and the corners are rounded so there are no edges anywhere. There’s a small door that looks like it’s for a food tray on the floor of one wall.

“Don’t bother, Mac.” The voice comes from the speaker on the ceiling, a voice he recognizes.

“Dr. Foster?”

“Sorry about this, Mac. I really don’t have a choice.”

“Come on, Nigel. Talk to me, what’s going on?”

“This room was specifically designed for someone like you. I modified it for you in particular knowing how resourceful you are. I’ve been very careful.”

The food tray door lifts open and Mac backs away and lowers his eye level to see what’s in the next room. Dr. Foster tells him, “Lay down on your back and put your left arm all the way through the trap door.”

Mac chuckles, shaking his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Don’t make me do this the hard way, Mac. It would be a lot less comfortable for you, and a lot more hassle for me.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I just need a blood sample.”

Mac’s breath hitches and he barely whispers, “My blood?” This can’t be happening. His nightmare, his worst fear coming true: locked in a lab cage by someone he’d thought he could trust. “Nigel, please. Don’t do this. I don’t know why you’re doing this to me, but it’s _not_ worth it.”

“Put your arm through the door.”

Mac fights to bottle the panic welling up inside, keeping his face blank. “If you’re being threatened, I can help you.”

“Put your arm through the door. I won’t tell you again.”

Mac shakes his head, “You know I won’t do it.”

Mac hears a sigh through the speaker before a click tells him it’s been turned off. The trap door snaps shut. Fifteen seconds later the door above him opens and two smoking canisters are dropped into the room as the door slams shut. The gas fills the room quickly and Mac is overcome by it. Coughing, he sinks to the floor as his vision fades.

When he opens his eyes again, he’s laying on the floor, his arm through the trap door and secured with some kind of shackles.

“I didn’t want to do it this way, Mac. I need a pure sample, so now you have to lay like that for 15-20 minutes to be sure your body has completely removed the gas from your system.”

Mac closes his eyes and a single thought consumes his mind, _‘Hurry, Jack.’_

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack’s POV - Sunday 10am

Jack paces the War Room, listening to Riley’s fingers fly across her laptop. It takes every ounce of self control he’s got to keep himself from nagging her about progress. Interrupting her won’t help.

Matty is watching his progress back and forth while she waits on hold with the last private ambulance company that serves Mac’s area. She opens her mouth to say something to him but her attention suddenly snaps back to the phone in her hand.

“Yes, I’m still here.” Jack stops short and stares at her, wishing he could hear what she’s being told. “You’re sure?” His heart plummets as he lets out a grunt of frustration and resumes pacing.

“Well, thank you for checking.” She hangs up, “That’s the last one. Riley, you got anything yet?”

“I found the ambulance and the car leaving the neighborhood, but the plates are fake.” Her laptop chimes. “Forensics just sent me an e-mail, hang on...okay, we got him.”

She taps a few more keys and a picture comes up on the main view screen. “This is Dr. ...”

“... Nigel Foster.” Jack cuts in. “He was one of the docs in Afghanistan. He transferred to my unit the same day Mac did. At the time I didn’t really think anything of it, but now...I assume he knows about the virus?”

Matty nods. “It’s why he was assigned to Mac. A medical professional that knew about the virus had to be with him to supply the blood he needs every week. Foster was part of a group of doctors that studied the virus years before. He decided to join the Medical Corps of the Army to help soldiers who were infected stay below radar so they could serve their country without worrying about blood supply while deployed.”

He turns to Riley, “What do we have on this guy?”

“Well, you guys are right. He worked as an Army doctor until about 3 years ago. It doesn’t look like he’s worked since then.”

“He wouldn’t have to, he’s loaded.” Jack says, “He invented some medical doohickey for use in the field and made millions. He never seemed to care though. He always said he loved his work too much to quit.”

“I think I just found out why he _did_ finally quit. He rotated home from his last tour and was told his daughter was diagnosed with leukemia two months earlier. He’s spent a _ton_ of money on treatments. Looks like none of it’s working though, she’s only got a few months left.” Riley looks extremely sad. “She’s only 7.”

Jack rubs a hand down his face. “Shit. He wouldn’t make Mac try to infect her, would he? That’s crazy. It could kill her instead.”

Matty shakes her head sadly. “Maybe he figures it’s a better chance than she’s got now. Let’s worry about motive later. We need to figure out _where_ he might have taken Mac.”

“I’m working on that. He’s got three houses, one in Bakersfield that seems to be his main residence, one in New York and one in Georgia. Right after he found out his daughter was sick he also started funneling a lot of money into several shell corporations. I’ve already found at least two shell companies inside of other shell companies. It’s going to take me some time to peel back the layers.”

“I’ll get you more hands to help, now that we have something to look for.”

Jack pipes up, “I can check the house in Bakersfield.” He starts heading for the door.

Matty calls after him. “No, Jack.” He spins around shocked. “He wouldn’t take Mac to his house and if we search the place it could tip him off that we’re onto him. There’s no telling what he could do to Mac if that happens.”

Jack balls his hands into fists and closes his eyes, trying to slow his breathing. _How does this keep happening to Mac? Can’t he catch a single break?!_ “I’m going crazy just standing here!”

“I know Jack and I promise you will get to be front and center as soon as we have a viable location. But we _have_ to be smart about this.”

Jack sags, defeated. “I know,” He resumes pacing.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

Mac’s POV - Sunday 12pm

_Has it really been only a single day?_ Mac is _bored_ . He’s being treated well, aside from being locked up and having more than a pint of blood taken already. But Nigel refuses to give him _anything_ to do, convinced he’ll use a pencil and a book of Sudokus to escape somehow, he’d need at least two other things for that.

“Come on, Nigel! Anything! I’m losing my mind in here!” He gets the same answer he did the previous times he’d tried, silence.

The trap door opens, a tray of food is pushed inside and the door snaps shut again. At least the food is good. Dinner last night had been a chicken breast in some kind of sauce, a mound of mashed potatoes and green beans. Breakfast was a pile of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast and orange juice. He couldn’t even finish it all. Now it’s a large bowl of soup, several slices of rye bread, an apple, a large cup of milk, and a bottle of water. He can’t claim they’re starving him, but he’d rather be eating at home.

He takes his time eating since he has nothing better to do. He finishes everything but the apple and bottle of water. He’ll save those for later. He puts the tray by the trap door having learned last night that refusal to do so would just get him gassed again. He lays on his back in the middle of the floor and starts throwing the apple in the air and catching it. _Bored enough to play catch with myself, geez._

The tray is taken out, but the trap door stays open this time. Curious, Mac turns to look and Nigel’s voice echoes down from the ceiling. “Give me your arm.”

Mac stands and backs to the opposite wall. “Nigel, no. You can’t.”

“You already know how this is going to play out, Mac. Just cooperate.”

“You can’t keep taking more without replacing it!”

“And I will. The delivery was delayed, but should be arriving today. I’ll get you more blood by the end of the day.”

Mac looks at the camera skeptically.

“I’m not a monster, Mac. I changed up my plan to grab you from the gym’s running trails after you started bringing Dalton with you because I didn’t want to have to hurt him to get to you. I assume you finally told him about the virus?”

Mac ignores the question, only responding to the rest, “Liar. You were afraid he’d stop you. It had nothing to do with not wanting to hurt him.”

“Either way, it took a while to find and buy an old ambulance and fix it up and I _don’t_ want to hurt you. I have no intention of keeping you long term, and I’ve protected you. I have a lot of people working here, but they’re compartmentalized. No one who knows you’re here knows anything about the existence of the virus. Those who know about the virus have no idea you’re here and the two groups are kept carefully separated.”

A modicum of relief creeps through Mac at that news, but it’s still secondary right now. “Then just let me go! You have to know they’re going to find us and you’re going to be in _a lot_ of trouble. You’ve treated me well and I’ll tell them that, but you have to let me go. Don’t make this any worse.”

“I know I’ll likely spend the rest of my life in jail for this, but if I succeed first it’ll be worth it. Now please give me your arm. I promise I’ll give you blood today. One way or another.”

“Succeed with what?! Tell me why you’re doing this! Maybe I can -”

“Last chance, give me your arm.”

Mac shakes his head but takes a step forward. Desperately trying to think of a way to avoid losing more blood that won’t just end up getting him knocked out. He has an idea that might work. He backs up against the wall again, directly across from the full sized door. It’s high, but he might be able to reach it when Nigel opens the door to toss in the canisters.

He lets nothing of his plan slow on his face as he shakes his head at the camera, “I won’t.” He waits for the trap door to close, and it does, but not before the two gas canisters are tossed through it. _Dammit!_

As he coughs and tries to hold onto consciousness, he hears Nigel, “Nice try, Mac. I know better than to be that predictable with a soldier.”

Darkness envelopes him.

Several minutes later, he slowly comes around. But even before he’s completely awake, he knows his arm is shackled to the floor with a needle in it. He sighs as he blinks open his eyes.

“And now we have to wait again.” Nigel says nearby on the other side of the trap door.

“You know I had to try.”

“Yes, I know. I’d probably do the same thing in your place.”

\-------------------------------------------------

Mac’s POV - Sunday Evening

Mac is getting tired of waking up on this floor. It takes him longer to come around and coax his eyes open, trying to remember why he was out this time. He woke up after the gas, right? Yes, he’s sure he did. Oh, yeah. Nigel took more blood, too much. He’d passed out from the loss. He slowly tries to get up, but doesn’t get any further than sitting against the wall. His head is spinning so badly it’s making him nauseous. He needs more blood, soon, or he’s going to be in real trouble.

“Nigel?” He tries to call but barely a whisper comes out. He takes a few deep breaths and tries again, “Nigel?” There, that worked.

“Yes, Mac. I know. The delivery should be here soon.”

Mac tries to focus on breathing. When did he lay back down? Oh well, it’s fine. Maybe a nap would be a good idea. It’ll make the time go by faster until the blood arrives, and it _will_ arrive. He won’t let himself consider the alternative.

He blinks a few times. Did he sleep? No idea, but he hears a noise. He looks up toward where it came from and sees the best. thing. ever. The door above him is open, there’s a ladder leading down from it, and walking across the room toward him…

Jack.

“Mac? Can you hear me, hoss?”

Mac nods and sighs out “yeah” with a tired smile.

“You okay?”

“He took a lot of blood and I’m _really_ dizzy, but he didn’t do anything else. Just get me out of here.”

Mac moves to get to his feet and Jack helps him. He’s glad to find he can walk. Balance is an issue, but Jack steadies him and they get to the ladder.

“Hang on, Mac. I’ve got to find a way to get you up the ladder.”

“I think I can climb it. My strength seems fine.”

“Okay, but I’m going to be right behind you in case you slip.”

They climb slowly and by the time they reach the top Mac is exhausted. Pulling himself onto the landing at the top of a moveable stairway on the other side of the door, he flops onto his back, squeezing his eyes shut and willing his head to stop swirling around the room.

He hears Jack above him, presumably on comms. “Matty, I got Mac. He seems okay, just weak and dizzy.” There is a pause as Jack listens, “No, he’s not here.”

Then closer, “Mac, we gotta go darlin’. Most of the building is secure, but they haven’t found Foster yet. You have any idea where he could be?”

“No. I woke up in that room, and was never let out.”

“Well, the others can handle him. Let’s get you out of here. Up you get, man.”

Mac groans softly as he forces his body to move. Jack helps him up and puts Mac’s arm over his shoulders to guide him down the stairs. Just as they reach the floor, Mac hears several soft pops and Jack hisses in pain, then staggers and falls, dragging Mac to the floor with him.

Jack rolls over and fires a shot over Mac’s head. He then reaches around and pulls three darts out of the back of his leg. Mac looks behind him and sees Nigel with a wound in his shoulder and an air pistol on the floor a few feet away.

“I’m sorry, Dalton,” Nigel says, “But I can’t let you take him. I’m so sorry. I never wanted anything like this.”

A grunt from Jack turns Mac’s attention back to him. Jack looks confused, staring at his arms as he moves them slowly back and forth. He hasn’t tried to get up.

“Jack?”

“I feel weird. It’s hard to move.”

Mac snatches one of the darts from the floor and turns to Nigel. “What did you do?”

“I’m sorry, Mac. It’s tetrodotoxin. I need you. I can’t let him take you away.”

Mac’s eyes go wide as he looks back to his boyfriend. Jack is still confused and raises an eyebrow in question.

“Tetrodotoxin is the poison in pufferfish and several other sea animals. It’s a powerful paralytic.”

Nigel adds the key piece. “It’ll paralyze your diaphragm and stop you from breathing. I’m more sorry than I can say, Dalton. But it’ll be quick. I wouldn’t have hurt Mac, and I’d have let him go when I was done. Why couldn’t you just wait?!”

Jack’s voice is strained and gravely when he responds. “That question is so stupid it doesn’t even deserve an answer.”

Mac closes his eyes and bows his head over Jack, who’s breathing is getting more shallow by the second. He lifts his head and looks Jack in the eye, his own quickly filling with tears.

Jack gasps out, “You promised.”

Mac blinks and tears fall. He slowly nods his head. He takes the comm from Jack’s ear and puts it in his own. “Matty?”

“Mac. Are you okay?”

He ignores her question, “You need to keep everyone out of this lab until Jack or I say otherwise.”

“What’s going on, Mac?” She sounds apprehensive.

“I need you to trust me, I’ll explain later.”

There’s a frustrated sigh. “You better. Alright everyone, you heard him. No one goes in that room unless I say so.”

“We’re going dark.” Mac hears her begin to protest as he switches off the comm. Jack doesn’t have enough time for him to be arguing with Matty.

He turns to Nigel who is sitting on the floor, leaning back against the desk and holding a hand to his bleeding shoulder. Mac summons all the strength he can and launches across the small room toward him. He stumbles once, but reaches Nigel before he can get to the air pistol. He pins Nigel against the desk with a hand at his throat.

“What are you doing, Mac? You aren’t going to hurt me. You don’t have it in you.”

“I made a promise to Jack, and you’re going to help me keep it by fulfilling the promise you made to me.”

“What promise?”

“You promised to give me blood, _one way or another_.” 

Nigel is shocked and too terrified to do anything but shake his head frantically as Mac easily rips the fabric from around the bullet wound with his other hand.

“I’ll try not to kill you.” Mac lowers his head to the wound and drinks. The world around him vanishes, lost in sensation, and before he realizes it, it’s over. He releases his hold on Nigel who slumps to the floor. “I’m sorry, Nigel.”

He hurries back over to Jack and drops beside him. “Jack?” His breathing is so slow that for a second Mac thinks it’s already stopped. “Jack!”

Jack’s eyes flutter open sluggishly and he seems to be having trouble focusing. Mac breathes a sigh of relief, but knows he’s almost out of time. Putting a hand on either side of Jack’s face he turns the older man’s head to look at him fully.

“Are you _really_ sure, Jack? It can’t be undone.”

Even mostly paralyzed, Jack manages to somehow look annoyed. He tries to answer, but the only sound that comes out is the ‘s’ of what is still clearly the word ‘Yes’. Mac briefly presses his forehead to Jack’s before pulling back and reaching for Jack’s hand and knife.

He pauses only a second to breathe the word “Please,” then quickly opens Jack’s wrist and brings it to his mouth. If he allows himself time to think about what he’s doing he’ll panic.

The blood explodes through his mouth. The steady _thrum, thrum, thrum_ envelopes him. The room around him evaporates again and his eyes drift closed. Warmth spreads through him as his heart pounds fresh blood through his veins. He feels groggy, heavy with it. 

The rhythm of the other beat in his ears begins to slow….slower….softer….it flutters…..and stops. His eyes snap open and he fixes them on the man lying in front of him as a terrifying realization screams through his mind.

Jack is dead.

\------------------------------------------------------------


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The CDC immunologist, Carol Wilson, is the character Meredith Eaton played in NCIS several times. Since I heard the two shows are in the same universe, this is my way of explaining the two Merediths.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Chapter 2**

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mac’s POV

Jack is dead.

Panic nearly drowns him. He can’t breathe but he’s hyperventilating. The world has stopped but his whole body shakes. The room has gone silent, but inside his head he’s screaming in agony. He just listened to Jack die, _felt_ it happen, _tasted_ the last beat of his powerful heart. No! Not the last beat. Can’t be the last beat. He grabs the knife from the floor and clumsily opens his own wrist, too deep, but he doesn’t care.

He opens Jack’s mouth with his other hand and shoves the dripping wound to it. Then he waits...and waits...and waits. Nothing is happening. _Why is nothing happening?!_

“No, no, no, no, no!! Please Jack! Don’t do this to me, I can’t lose you!” Nothing. “JACK!” Nothing.

Like a switch is flipped, Mac suddenly goes completely still except the red tinted tears sliding over his cheeks. It didn’t work. Why didn’t it work? He did it right, he’s sure he did. Fate couldn’t be that cruel to him, could it? First his mother, now Jack?

He mindlessly reaches for Jack’s gun laying on the floor next to them. He doesn’t like guns, but this is fitting. He lifts the gun to aim at the side of his own head.

Jack’s whole body twitches and is still again.

Mac freezes, daring to hope. With a second, stronger twitch, Jack drags in a raspy breath then starts coughing, eyes wide and unfocused, hands flailing, searching. Mac drops the gun into his lap and puts his wrist back to Jack’s mouth. Jack’s eyes drift closed and he settles, clamping Mac’s wrist to him with a vise-like grip.

Mac feels blood being drawn from him in slow, gentle pulls. It’s almost as hypnotic as drinking it himself. His mind fogs and he struggles to keep his eyes open. Seconds tick by leisurely, then his arm is suddenly shoved away and Jack screams, back arching. Jack clamps his mouth shut against the pain clearly ripping through him. What’s going on? Mac’s own infection wasn’t painful at all.

He tries to comfort him, “Ssshh, Jack. Ssshh. It’s almost over, it’ll be okay.” He hopes like hell he’s not lying. “I’m right here, babe, ssshh.”

A few seconds later, Jack quiets, slowly rolling onto his side toward Mac, panting. “Holy fuck that hurt. Like my whole body was literally on fire. You could’ve warned me about that part.”

“I didn’t know. I don’t remember it hurting. Maybe it was the poison being burned off? I didn’t have anything like that in my system.”

Gradually catching his breath, he looks up at Mac. “I guess I got heads.” He laughs a little at his own joke and Mac can’t stop the crazy sounding giggle that burbles out of him. His emotions are in turmoil, overlapping.

Jack realizes that Mac is holding his sanity by the thinnest of threads. “Breathe, Mac.” He says calmly, gently. “Breathe. It’s alright, darlin’. I’m right here. I’m okay.”

He reaches out to put a hand on Mac’s knee and sees the gun still resting in his lap. He redirects his hand to take it, sitting up as he does. “Mac?”

Still reeling, Mac locks his eyes onto Jack’s, desperately trying to ground himself. “I thought you were dead. I thought it didn’t work.”

Understanding shows on Jack’s face before pain fills his eyes and a tear drips down his face leaving a faint red line. “This was for you?”

“I told you it would kill me if…”

“And you knew. When you made me the promise to try this, you...you knew this is how you’d react if it didn’t work.” Mac doesn’t respond. “Didn’t you.”

Mac slowly nods. “There’s a connection that’s made while drinking from someone. I _felt_ your heart stop, Jack. I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle it if you didn’t come back.” Jack sags. He drops the gun beside him and pulls Mac into a kiss. It’s quick and anguished, then he just hugs him close, holding on for dear life.

“God, Mac. I never would have asked you to do this if I knew that was the deal I was making.”

Mac relaxes into him. “You go kaboom, I go kaboom. It goes both ways, Jack.”

Suddenly Mac gasps and pulls away, sitting bolt upright. “I almost forgot.” He turns the comm back on. “Matty, we’re okay. Give us another minute.” He turns the comm off without waiting for a response. “We need to move.”

They jump to their feet, Jack a little shakily, but he holsters the gun and moves toward Foster.

“He’s dead, Jack.”

“I only shot him in the shoulder.”

Mac pointedly looks anywhere _but_ at Jack, “He’d taken too much blood from me. Without more blood I was too weak to try to infect you. I wouldn’t have had enough to give.”

“Aw, shit. I’m sorry, Mac.”

“It was _his_ fault, not yours. All of this was his fault.” Mac goes over to the desk and starts shuffling through papers.

“What are you looking for?”

“Anything that identifies me. So far everything just says ‘the subject’. He said he protected me, but.” He flips on the computer screen. “It’s password protected.” He sighs. “Fine.”

He opens the housing and grabs the bottle of water from the desk and splashes it inside the tower. It immediately starts to spark and smoke, then shuts down with a groan. “That should do it.” He turns the comm back on again. “We’re all done here, Matty. How is everything else?”

“Finally! The building is secure, but there’s still no sign of Dr. Foster.”

“He’s in here with us. He’s dead. We’re heading out.” He pauses. “Matty, tell Dr. Lewis she has _two_ patients coming in.”

There’s silence from the other end and when she responds “Understood,” he can tell she’s gotten the message -Jack is infected now, too.

\----------------------------------------------------------------

The two of them spend the night in medical being checked out. Since he’s newly infected with the vampire anemia virus, Jack is poked, prodded and treated like a pin cushion by Dr. Lewis for half the night as she takes multiple samples. Representatives from the Center for Disease Control arrive first thing in the morning, including someone who’s quite the shock for him -Carol.

The CDC immunologist is a woman named Carol Wilson, who he quickly learns is Matty’s _very different_ twin sister. Half of her hair is bright pink and she keeps winking at him and making not-so-veiled innuendos about getting him alone. It’s kind of creepy, like being hit on by Matty, only not. Mac keeps silently laughing at him from behind her.

Like Mac’s mother years ago, Jack spends hours answering questions about _everything_. Carol also informs him that the CDC has people at his apartment taking samples. They’re also at Mac’s place since he spends so much time there, including shortly before being infected, and they’re taking samples here at Phoenix for the same reason, much to Matty’s annoyance and Carol’s amusement.

She confirms Mac’s assumption as to why the infection hurt so badly. The virus reacted to the tetrodotoxin like it did the cut on his wrist when it was healed, only the poison was inside his entire body.

She also warns him not to try lifting ‘crazy’ weights yet. It’ll take the infection a month or so to fully permeate his system. Apparently, the virus focuses on critical corrections first. Like being poisoned, then cancers and other major infections, illnesses or injuries. _Then_ it moves on to overall system improvements, slowly making adjustments. Though already, Jack’s blood pressure has improved slightly and he _swears_ his back wasn’t as stiff when he woke up as it usually is in the morning (though Mac thinks that’s more likely due to him not getting much sleep, so he wasn’t lying in one position for long enough for his back to settle awkwardly).

The official mission report will state that the darts that hit Jack were covered in a sedative, not a deadly neurotoxin, that Nigel had lied; Mac was taken for reasons known only to Nigel that they will probably never figure out now that he’s dead; no mention will be made of Nigel taking Mac’s blood, and Nigel’s death was caused by Jack’s bullet nicking an artery.

Mac finding out why Nigel had taken him had sucked:

“Why didn’t he just tell me? I would have helped him. Given him the blood samples _willingly_. He didn’t have to do any of this! All he had to do was ask.”

“He probably figured he couldn’t take the chance of you refusing, hoss. Or risk Matty refusing to _let_ you,” responds Jack. “He was desperate. Besides, his research wasn’t exactly going through proper channels and approvals.”

“And now I’ve killed him. His daughter is going to die never knowing why he isn’t there to hold her hand in her final moments. And his wife will have lost both of them.” He buries his face in his hands. “What have I done, Jack?”

“Hey, hey, look at me.” Mac slowly looks up. “That is _not_ your fault. I heard what Dr. Lewis said to you. The fact that you’d lost so much blood that you passed out was seriously bad news, man. It made you dangerously anemic in every sense. You were starving, for lack of a better word. Even those infected that have learned _not_ to lose themselves when drinking from others would’ve failed under those circumstances.”

“I didn’t have to drink from him at all.”

“And I’d be dead now if you hadn’t. Doc confirmed that, too. You only had minutes to attempt the infection and you wouldn’t have had enough blood to do that without taking Nigel’s.”

“That doesn’t make it right.”

Jack sighs heavily. “Taking a life is the most lousy part of this job, and I _really_ hate when it has to be you that does it instead of me. Nothing ever makes killing another person feel completely right, but it can make it understandable and justifiable. You did what you had to do in order to protect us both against a man that was definitely killing me and coming close to killing you.”

Mac nods almost imperceptibly. Jack puts a finger under Mac’s chin and lifts his head to look at him, raising his eyebrows as he does. Mac nods a little more forcefully. “I know you’re right, Jack. I just…”

“I know, man. I know.”

\---------------------------------------------------

Finally released in late afternoon, they head to a hotel since it’ll be several days before the CDC is done tearing their places apart. The room is simple, but spacious. They sit at the table, sipping the beer they picked up on the way, looking out the sliding glass doors of the balcony.

“So, what now, hoss?” Jack says.

“Now we wait for the CDC to finish their investigation and we go home. Life continues like normal. Though you’ll have to go to medical once a week for blood...for the rest of your life.” He won’t even look at him.

“Okay,” Jack puts down his beer and spins his chair around so he’s sitting right next to Mac, facing him, and rests a hand on Mac’s thigh. “ _Now_ what’s going on in that head of yours? Hmm?”

Mac sighs, threading his fingers though Jack’s, “I’ve condemned you to a life that’s so... _hard_.”

“The alternative was no life _at all_ . I’d be dead. You gave me a life, Mac. Easy or hard, I get to live it. And don’t forget, I _asked_ for this. Begged for it, practically demanded it. It ain’t your fault, darlin’. It was Nigel’s. You get that, _really_ get that, right?”

“Yes, I get that. And I’m _really_ glad you’re still here but it doesn’t change the fact that I was forced to be a part of it. Your life will never be the same again, and there’s so much _pain_ coming.”

“I’ll get through it, and you’ll be there to help me every step of the way. Just like I’ll be there to help you. It’s what we do.”

Mac finally smiles. “Yeah...yeah, it is.” He takes a deep breath. “We’ll be okay.”

“Damn right we will.” He picks up his beer, “Cheers.”

Clanking the bottles together, they each take a sip, sit back and gaze out over the city.

The ring of Mac’s cell phone interrupts their quiet moment.

Jack looks confused as Mac stands to dig the phone out of his pocket. “Who is it?”

“I don’t know, there’s no caller ID.” Mac swipes the screen to answer the call. “Hello?”

_“Hello, my beautiful boy.”_

Mac’s eyes go wide and he turns to Jack who is immediately on alert. “Dernova. What the hell do you want?”

Jack’s eyes go as wide as Mac’s and he looks like he’s going to say something, but Mac puts a finger up for him to wait.

_“No need to be so hostile. I didn’t do it. It’s a shame to waste such a powerful man. Besides, I’d never have the heart to kill my baby’s father.”_

“What?!”

_“Oh, that’s right! I didn’t share the wonderful news with you! Jack and I made a baby this past summer. Didn’t he tell you? Anyway, don’t grieve too hard. Jack isn’t completely gone. Maybe I’ll let you meet her after she’s born. She isn’t due for a few more weeks, but really it could be any day now.”_

Mac closes his eyes slowly in disbelief. Painfully aware of Jack watching and listening to his side of the conversation. He practically hisses into the phone. “You’re a liar.”

Jack stands and moves toward him, so puts a finger to his lips, warning him to be quiet. Dernova is laughing loud enough for Jack to be able to hear it.

_“Oh, no, my beautiful boy. I actually just had an ultrasound last week. I’ll send you a picture. I really should get going though. I just wanted to express my condolences. I know how much he meant to you.”_

Mac doesn’t respond to her, he just pulls the phone away from his ear and hangs up on her. He knows confusion is clear on his face as he tries to piece together the meaning behind the things she said.

Jack can’t take anymore. “What did psycho-lady say?”

Mac shakes his head slowly, still confused. “She thinks you’re dead.”

“What? Why?”

Realization dawns and Mac lights up. “Because you died. Jack, when I infected you, your heart stopped and the bond she had with you must have broken. Apparently it stayed broken when your heart started again. She doesn’t know you’re alive, much less infected now too. We might be able to use that.”

Mac’s phone chimes for an incoming message and when he looks at it his face falls again.

“What is it, darlin’?”

Mac looks up at the love of his life. _How the hell do I tell him this?_

“Mac?”

Mac takes a deep breath. “She told me something else, but it could be a lie. We have no way of knowing at this point.”

Jack just lifts his eyebrows in question. Mac sighs and shows him the phone...a clear ultrasound image of a nearly full term baby.

Jack’s eyes pop and his mouth drops open.

“We don’t know if it’s true, Jack.”

“What do you mean ‘we don’t know’, man? It’s right there!”

“We don’t even know if it’s her baby or if she just sent me some random picture she found online. And even if it’s hers, that doesn’t mean it’s yours.”

Jack drags a hand down his face, clearly starting to freak out. Mac quickly puts the phone on the table, grabs Jack’s face with both hands and kisses him. It’s soft and quick, but it snaps Jack out of his spiral.

“We’ll figure it out, babe. Okay? I promise. Whether _any_ of it is true or not, it’ll be okay.”

“I always thought maybe I’d be a dad someday, but...this is so _not_ how I ever pictured it happenin’.

“I don’t imagine _anyone_ thinks about it happening this way. But let’s not worry about it now. Not unless or until we can verify at least some part of it. Deal?”

Jack absently nods his head.

“How about we order food? Okay? I’m hungry. What d’ya think, Thai? Pizza?”

Jack nods sullenly again, then seems to have an idea that perks him right up. “Ooo, date night! Let’s go out! How often do we get a couple of guaranteed days off?!”

Mac smiles at his sudden mood swing, knowing it’s forced. “I’d love to, but all of our clothes are at home and we can’t go there until the CDC is done. All we have is what’s in our go-bags. Besides, remember when I said we might be able to use the fact that Dernova thinks you’re dead against her? It won’t work if she finds out you’re alive. You’ll need to stay out of sight for a while.”

“You want me to go into hiding?”

“At least for now. We’ll need to get with Matty. She isn’t going to like this, but it may be the only way to get her.”

“What’s your crazy brain cooking up now, man?”

“The beginnings of a plan. I’m still working through parts of it. Let’s snag a quick shower, some food and head back to Phoenix. We’ll need everybody on this.”

“Or maybe a not-so-quick shower.” He winks for added emphasis.

“Hmm, I like that even better.” He pulls Jack in for a long, deep kiss, dragging him toward the bathroom and leaving a trail of clothes behind them.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think? Is she really pregnant? Is it really Jack's?

**Author's Note:**

> I changed Dr. Foster's name. It was originally Taylor, but with Russ on the show in canon, I didn't want there to be any confusion.
> 
> Chapter 2 soon! Let me know what you think. Your feedback keeps me going!


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